Tradition, discipline, and strength were celebrated in downtown Grand Rapids as students of Tae Park Taekwondo came together to honor their newest Grand Master and display their own individual skills as well.

The annual Tae Park Taekwondo World Class Championships Tournament was held on Nov. 10 at the Grand Rapids Community College Ford Field House. Approximately 500 students, including those from six other states came to Grand Rapids to compete.

This particular tournament was momentous because Grand Master Tae Zee Park promoted one of his students, Grand Master Rick Warren, to eighth degree black belt. This makes Warren the second Grand Master in Tae Park Taekwondo's 38-year history.

There were also several fourth, fifth, and seventh degree Master Instructors that received promotions.

Patricia Ramos, a fourth degree Master Instructor, said the importance of the promotion ceremony is to relay that getting a promotion into the higher ranks is not something to be taken lightly, and Taekwondo is not only about fighting and defending oneself, but according to Ramos, it is about having to display skills of leadership, integrity and having a moral character in one's personal life.

"It's a commitment to the organization, and to the art," Ramos said.

Ramos teaches Taekwondo in Lowell, Saranac, and Ionia, and she had 17 students competing in the tournament for both form and sparring.

"I was very proud of my students' abilities and of their willingness to compete in a tournament so large," Ramos said. "For most of them, this is the first time they've ever competed. They went from practicing in a safe, closed environment to walking into this huge event and competing against the unknown."

Ramos's students that competed in the event were; Jenny Anderson (silver in form and sparring), Ryan Antles (silver in form and one-step sparring), Jeff Batey (bronze in form and sparring), Megan Day (gold in form and sparring), Kevin Hadley (silver in form in sparring), Ben Irish (bronze in form), Jeff Irish (bronze in form and sparring), Darren James (silver in form and sparring), Kyle James (gold in form), Joe Kovacs (silver in form and bronze in one-step sparring), Aidan Lane (silver in form and gold in sparring), Devin Nash (bronze in form), Max Phillips (silver in form and bronze in one-step sparring), Zuriel Ragan (bronze in form and silver in sparring) Julia Smelt (silver in form and bronze in sparring) and Maddie Smith (silver in form and sparring).